So my choices for programming tasks recently have been a project using a stack I consider out-dated, a project that is effectively a UI developer’s playground, or personal projects. No wonder I end up working on the last pretty much all the time.
Category: Long Form
Humor
Maybe that was too harsh. I suppose if broadcast meetings are entertaining or engaging, they might get a pass. Still, that’s a high bar not many clear successfully.
Meeting
Think I put my finger on meetings I find infuriating. Unless there is a conversation with participation of all, why bother? Broadcast in real time is so wasteful. When there are better options.
Returning to Dragon*Con
So, this is a thing: spur of the moment, I am going to Dragon*Con. 1st time in five years. Turns out a dear friend ended up on her own, with too much hotel room and a guest of badge, as an invited participant. The air fare is a bit of a pinch and the flight down will be a tad grueling but I won’t have to use any PTO. Will be worth it to see friends I haven’t seen in five years and enjoy one of the largest cons in the country.
Hypotheticals
Interesting observation from recent technology related discussions: people are quick to use hypotheticals to assail a view they disagree with, just as quick to reject them when defending their own. The rhetoric seems to run towards this: for the former “If we do that, how do we possibly support situation X?” and the latter “Lets’ be practical, situation X doesn’t apply now and probably never will.”
Lunch Talk
I have been working on a presentation for a lunch talk at work, on testing in JavaScript. I had been struggling with a framing and approach that appealed for such a complex subject. By trying to keep some kind of story in mind, really my own coming from testing older technologies, it finally clicked. Now I am excited to finish the slide deck, before it was hard to find the motivation.
Love and Support
Always great to receive some sincere, spontaneous love and support. Thanks, Dad, for reminding me with some dear childhood memories to always search for and welcome joy.
Longer Break
After a wonderful long weekend, thinking about how great an entire week off would be. I’d spend the time just writing, thinking, reading, playing and being with my family. I really enjoy my job but feeling a bit of personal life rooted emotional strain all the same.
Doing Better
I am doing better since this morning. Mostly because a bedevilling bug randomly disappeared. Concerning since I don’t know why but less stressful. I realize I may seem overly down on this job but the hardest day is still better than most good days at the last job.
Mixer Working
I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I hate having an unsolved tech puzzle. I was up early anyway, this morning, so tinkered a bit more with my mixer, installing Ardour4. Turns out everything works when allowing Ardour4 to direct drive and configuring to just use ALSA. I had no idea ALSA supported firewire but apparently it now does, all channels seem to be present and working. Long story short, I will be recording again no later than this coming weekend.